An easy day of flying is not hard to define. Passengers arrive on time, good weather translates into few delays and everything on the airplane works the way it was intended. Identifying a difficult day is a bit more challenging. Is it when the crew shoots a localizer approach to minimums at night with thunderstorms all around? Or is it a more complex approach in the mountains where the margin for error is defined by granite hiding just a few dots near a full-scale needle deflection? Or an ILS with a glidepath nearly double anything you might traditionally fly in the U.S.? And how does crew inexperience or arrogance play out after a long, grueling day?
Aircraft mechanical problems, air traffic concerns and weather and crew interactions form endlessly varying combinations, all of which can affect flight safety. Unfortunately, nearly 80 percent of aircraft accidents are still related to human factors. So why do smart professional pilots continue to make what look like–on the surface at least–incredibly dumb mistakes? Are there any simple solutions to prevent crews from becoming accident statistics?
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